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ABRAHAMIC COVENANT

Almighty God Said:

"As for me, behold my covenant is with thee and thou shall be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of

many nations have I made thee.

And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of

thee.

And/will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee a

nd to thy seed after thee." (Genesis 17:vs 4

-

7)

Let it be noted that this Covenant was an Everlasting Contract. Concerning this Covenant it is said (in Hebrews, chapter 6: vs 13 to 20) that because God had sworn to it by an oath and because it was

impossible for God to lie, the Covenant is immutable.

The Covenant was unalterable, unchangeable, and everlasting, which means IT MUST EXIST TODAY. Read the entire Covenant in Genesis 17, and you will find it not only concerned the ownership of all the land from the river Euphrates to the river Nile, but, overshadowing all else, it was a Covenant "To be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, in their generations for ever." Can we comprehend what that means? It has not been revoked. Now note that the Covenant was made not only with Abraham for his lifetime but also with his seed for ever, through Isaac (Gen. 17: 8-24 and Romans 9: 7-9) and through

Isaac's son, Jacob. So we find the Everlasting Covenant made by Almighty God with Abraham (Gen. 17:

4-

8) establishe

d in Isaac, (Gen. 26: 1

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5) ratified and confirmed to Jacob (Gen. 35: 10

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12).

Special attention must be called to the fact that the Covenant was absolutely unconditional, unalterable and unchangeable. It did not depend on what the descendants of Abraham did or did not do. The

Covenant stands forever on the oath of God.

Abraham was also promised a tremendous number of descendants. Three symbols are used in Genesis to describe the number:

1.

The dust of the earth:

"And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth,

then shall thy seed also be numbered" [Gen. 13: 16].

"And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed" [Gen. 28: 14].

2.

The stars of heaven:

"And he brought him forth abroad, and said. Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to numb

er them: and he said unto him. So shall thy seed be." [Gen

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15:5]

3.

The sand of the sea

:

"That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore: and thy seed shall possess the gate of his

enemies" [Gen. 22:17].

"And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude" [Gen. 32:12].

God later changed the name of Jacob to Israel. (Gen. 35:10) so his descendants who were the inheritors

of the Covenant were hereafter known as Israel. Jacob had twelve sons, each the head of his own family.

These families developed into the 12

-

tribed nation of Israel (Gen. 35:22).

Jacob, hereafter called Israel, loved Joseph more than all his other children, (Gen. 37:3) and before Israel

died, Joseph brought his two sons to his father to be blessed. Israel crossed his hands and laying his

hands on their heads, blessed the sons of Joseph-Ephraim and Manasseh. He then said, "And let my name be named on them." Thus his adoption of the two sons of Joseph created another tribe, making thirteen tribes in all. Although Joseph was displeased that his father's right hand was laid upon the head of Ephraim, the younger brother, Israel refused to uncross his hands, so Ephraim was set before Manasseh (Gen. 48:16-20). Thus Manasseh became the thirteenth tribe and received the promise of

becoming a great nation. Ephraim was given the promise of becoming a company of n

ations (i.e.v 48).

Much of the history of the now thirteen tribes of Israel must, of necessity, be passed over here: The dramatic account of their sojourn in the land of Egypt for over four hundred years, their great deliverance by the hand of God from the land, and the still greater deliverance at the Red Sea when God led his people across on dry land in safety, causing the waters to stand back while His people crossed over and the destruction of the pursuing Egyptians can be found in Exodus 14: 21-30. Chapters 15 through 18 record their forty years in the wilderness. Finally, at Mount Sinai God gave His people a code of Laws, Statutes, Judgments, Commandments and Ordinances (the latter ceased with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ) by which

His

Kingdom on earth would be administered. (Exodus, chapters 19 to 40, and the books of Leviticus. Numbers and Deuteronomy). These laws covered every phase of both national and individual life:

social, financial, economic, ecclesiastical, agricultural dietetic, and personal.

The keeping of these laws on the promise and the assurance of God will result in perfect happiness and contentment with freedom from sickness. Concerning these laws, the Psalmist wrote: The law of the Lord is perfect" (Psalm 19: 7).

Th

e people at Mt. Sinai entered into a solemn covenant with their God and King, for they said. "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do" (Exodus 24: 7-8). That is what is known as the first or National Covenant and must not be confused with the Abrahamic Covenant which was made some four hundred years previously and which was unconditional. The Covenant made at Mt. Sinai was made conditional

upon the keeping of the Laws, Statutes, Judgments and Commandments of God.

So we find God laying before His people the conditions of this National Covenant. IF they kept His laws, blessed would they be in all their undertakings; blessed in the city and in the field, in the fruit of the ground, their cattle and flocks, assured of certain victory over their enemies, and there would be no sickness or poverty among the people. BUT, if they did not keep those laws, then the opposite would be the result. All their undertakings would be cursed; there would be crop failures, disease in cattle and in their own bodies, poverty and sickness would overtake them, their enemies would gain the victory over them in battle. All this may be read in the 28

th

chapter of Deuteronomy, and in the 26

th

chapter of

Leviticus.

Here, God warned Israel that if they persisted in continually breaking His Laws, not only would curses come upon them. He would punish them for seven times, (a time being 360 years, seven times would be

2520 years) and would banish them from the land of Palestine and scatter them among the heathens (like lost sheep) (Lev. 26: 28

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46).

For a good many years all went well, the people obeyed the laws of the kingdom and received the promised rewards. Then they began to tire and wanted to be like other peoples around them. First of all they desired an earthly king and God said that although in doing so, they had rejected Him, He would give them permission to have an earthly king (I Sam. 8: 7-22). Saul was then appointed as Israel's first

king.

Later he was removed because of sin, and God Himself appointed David (of the tribe Judah) to be King

over all Israel. God then established the Throne of David FOREVER. (II Sam. 7: 11

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17 and Psalm 89: 3

-4) making an Everlasting Covenant with David that his throne and his house would endure forever and that there would always be one of David's seed of lineage to reign upon that throne over the House of Israel for ever (Jer. 33: 17-26). The throne would endure as long as the sun and the moon endured in the

heavens (Psalm 89: 29

-

37).

S

o here we have:

1) The Everlasting Covenant made with Israel forever, through their forefathers. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who is now called Israel.

2) The Kingdom of Israel established for ever.

3)

The Throne and the House of David established as the Monarchical system over the House of

Israel forever.

So the House of Israel, the Throne of David, and the Everlasting Covenant must be in existence TODAY. Note: The throne of David was also the Throne of the Lord, the King of Israel. "For the

Lord

God shall give unto Him the Throne of His Father David, and He shall reign over the House of Jacob

forever" (Luke 1:32

-

33). Remember, He has not as yet occupied that Throne.

To return to David's reign, we find that he reigned for seven years over the House of Judah only and then for thirty-three years over all Israel, (namely thirteen-tribed Israel - II Sam. 5: 4-5). During his reign, while Israel kept the Laws of God, prosperity was the result. Of that time it is recorded. "Every man dwelt safely under his own vine and fig tree." (I Kings 4: 25). A perfect social order existed

wherein dwelt righteousness.

So wonderful and glorious was the Kingdom that kings and queens came from all parts of the earth to

see the glories of the kingdom. But alas Solomon, to whom David passed the throne, fell into sin causing

the people of the thirteen tribes to sin also and because of their sin. God caused the kingdom to be divided into two kingdoms (I Kings 11: 29-36). The ten tribes under the leadership of Ephraim forme

d

the Northern Kingdom of Israel with Samaria as its capital and Jeroboam as its king.

The other two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with most of the tribe of Levi, formed what was known as the Southern Kingdom of Judah, with their capital located at Jerusalem, and Rehoboam as its king (I

Kings 12: 16

-20). Although Judah had received a large part of the tribe of Levi, she was still referred to as the two-tribed kingdom. The tribe of Levi having received no inheritance with Israel, (Deut. 18:1-

2)

was portioned among all the tribes for priestly duties. This did not remove Levi from being a distinct tribe, only from being numbered among the landed tribes. Although Scripture thereafter refers to

"Twelve tribes," or the "ten

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tribed" and the "two

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tribed" kingdoms, Manasseh remained numbered as the

thirteenth tribe.

The titles "House of Israel" and the "House of Judah" are used to designate the two kingdoms, as they

stand separated and in opposition to each other.

The "Birthright" tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh went with the ten-tribed kingdom, and Judah to whom pertains the Throne or "Sceptre" through God's Covenant with David, formed the other kingdom. The

SCEPTRE

and the

BIRTHRIGHT

were separated then and there. Each became a nucleus. All the seed of Abraham, Isaac a

nd Jacob gathered around either one or the other.